August, 2017

The World Health Organization (WHO) is apparently reviewing the scheduling of Cannabidiol (CBD) and 16 other drugs under the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Prior to a meeting of the relevant WHO committee in early November, the WHO has asked member states (including the U.S.) for input. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible…

I have just posted an assortment of links to external websites that provide more news and additional perspectives on marijuana law and policy. The links can be found on the right hand column under Resources: External Links page. They are organized (loosely) into five categories: Advocacy Organizations Blogs and News Government Agencies Industry Sites Research Sites…

The Cannabist has compiled a wonderful collection of primary documents detailing the back-and-forth between the governors of the first four recreational legalization states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington) and the U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. The documents include: April 2017 letters from state leaders imploring Sessions to adhere to the Obama Administration’s non-enforcement policy. That…

The decision in Noffsinger v. SSC Niantic Operating Co., LLC (Dist. Conn. 2017), is significant because it departs from a handful of earlier decisions that have found or at least assumed state employment protections were preempted. Those decisions are discussed on pages 672-81 of the book. Even though I largely agree with the result in…

I just returned from the NCSL annual meeting in Boston, where I participated on a Marijuana Federalism panel with Representative Roger Goodman (WA state house) and John Hudak (Brookings). A short recap of the panel can be found here . Consistent with recent reports, all the panelists agreed the Trump Administration is unlikely to crack…

Senator Cory Booker (D NJ) has introduced a proposal to repeal the federal marijuana ban. In a nutshell, Booker’s Marijuana Justice Act would exempt marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. I believe Booker’s proposal to is incomplete (and therefore, both unwise and politically unpalatable) because it fails to offer any replacement for prohibition. I develop…